THE SCIENCE vs. THE ART OF CHEMISTRY. 693 



the true scientific spirit is so deeply imbedded in the educated mind, 

 that a subject which has a practical side is apt to be looked upon in a 

 disrespectful manner ; and so it happens that those who ought to know 

 better are inclined to speak contemptuously of chemistry, simply be- 

 cause they accept the popular idea of the science as the true one, not 

 stopping to ask whether there is anything higher in the subject than 

 that which the public recognizes. An anecdote which illustrates this 

 matter clearly may not be out of place here. Two students at a Ger- 

 man university, one a philologist, the other a chemist, were conversing, 

 on the eve of their examination for the degree of doctor of philosophy. 

 The philologist asked, "What is the subject of your thesis?" The 

 chemist answered : " Piperic acid ; I have been working on the subject 

 for a year and a half." When it was further stated, in reply to in- 

 quiries, that this acid could not, so far as was known, be used for any 

 practical purpose, the philologist was loud in his expressions of pity 

 for one who could work a year and a half without accomplishing some- 

 thing which would tend directly to improve the material condition of 

 our race. A counter-question in regard to the subject of the thesis of 

 the philologist elicited the answer: "My subject is an exceedingly in- 

 teresting one ; I have already written nearly a hundred pages on it 

 and have not yet finished : it is the preposition ad in Tacitus" It is 

 needless to add that he was unable to state to what practical use the 

 preposition ad could be put. The condition of mind toward chemis- 

 try which this young man thus betrayed is that which we should most 

 frequently find in educated as well as uneducated men in this and 

 other countries. We would not throw ridicule upon the enthusiasm 

 displayed we admire it; but we ask to be allowed to have a similar 

 enthusiasm for our prepositions. 



We have thus found the chief cause for the idea commonly held in 

 regard to the nature of chemistry to be that peculiarity of chemistry 

 among the sciences which gives it its close connection with practical 

 matters. It has already been remarked that it is right that this por- 

 tion of chemistry should be recognized and appreciated. This recog- 

 nition and appreciation should be encouraged, but not to such an 

 extent as to sacrifice any appreciation which it is possible to awaken 

 for the higher portions of the science. 



There is another direct cause for the popular conception of chemis- 

 try, growing out of the more general and indirect cause already con- 

 sidered. This consists in bad attempts to present the truths of the 

 science to the people. The popular lectures on chemistry which are 

 usually delivered are not scientific lectures ; they are frequently ut- 

 terly lacking in everything that characterizes scientific method ; and 

 they leave no further impression on the minds of the hearers than that 

 chemistry is a subject which enables men with the requisite degree 

 of skill to become successful showmen. Though the lecturer is per- 

 haps more respected, still the character of the respect which he has 



